November 25, 2009

Hello world! FAQs

Welcome to TragicMulattos. As noted in the “About Me” section, this blog is a critique of the modern multiracial movement. I say modern because, contrary to popular belief, mulattos have historically made attempts to organize around a multiracial identity. The MYTH that the One Drop Rule is THE defining aspect of the history of Black/White intermarriage in America is untrue. In fact, the One Drop Rule was a relatively minor aspect of our racial history, and AT NO TIME was it applied in every state, nor in every community. It is important to challenge the idea that ANY time a person of mixed ancestry identifies themselves by one race (be it White or Black), it MUST be due to the One Drop Rule.

The modern multiracial movement (which I will call MMM) has emerged in the last 30 years. Before the late 1970’s the majority of Black/White intermarriages that took place were between Black women and White men. With integration and the dismantling of segregation law, there was a huge shift in the gender makeup of Black White IR relationships, in which White women were now emerging as the mothers of non-White children. Although gains were main during the post civil rights era, Blacks were still systemically and institutionally discriminated against-from employment to education. Yes, this institutionalized racism included the mistreatment of Black children in desegregated schools. Outraged by society’s treatment of their children (not all non-white children), White women sought to secure a social and political space for their children in which they knew their children could not be White, but would not have to be Black. It is natural for someone to want to protect their children, but where does this take our social understanding of race? Dr. David Harris from the University of Michigan’s department of Sociology says that the multiracial movement is:

“driven by outraged white women, and I think that’s good. Society is more responsive to the movement because so many of the women driving it are white.”

Basically, the MMM started as 1. An exercise in White female privilege and 2. The attempt to transfer this privilege to their disenfranchised children. In a way it seeks to strengthen our outdated views about race because it demands that our antiquated racial identities be transferred to our children, rather than demanding that our social structures not recognize race at all.

This was NEVER about “accuracy” and “progress”. If you wanted “accuracy”, shouldn’t you be fighting for all people to be labeled human, which is our ONLY true scientific race? If it is about progress, isn’t it more progressive to move away from racial labels instead of creating new ones?

Some FAQs you may want to know about this blog

1. Do you oppose the biracial or multiracial identity?

ABSOLUTELY NOT. I oppose much of the rhetoric surrounding the MMM, and that’s what this blog is about. If we do not change and challenge our outdated understanding of race, and APPLY that knowledge, we will simply repeat the past using new jargon. Don’t tell me you’re biracial because of genetics or biology, then say you oppose the One Drop Rule. Both use pseudo-science to justify your existence. BOTH ARE WRONG. However, I see biracialism as a lived social experience. An experience that NOT ALL PEOPLE with one Black parent and one White parent will have.

2. Why create a blog about this?

I created this blog because many blogs and websites are antagonistic towards any sort of criticism or opposition. I found it best to just create my own space and allow those who seek to find.

3. Why is your blog named TragicMulattos?

It brought you here, didn’t it? LOL. But seriously, the tragic mulatto archetype is prevalent in US literature. One of the main oppositions to the tragic mulatto archetype is that society (particularly Whites) are only encouraged to shun the racial status quo when the face of racial mistreatment is White or nearly White.

4. What are some of the issues you have with the MMM?

*No strong criticisms of the structure of race in America aside from their desire for a MR label

*The MMM often positions Whites as innocent/ignorant racist and Blacks as antagonistic/malicious “crabs in the barrel” racist.

*Tons of loaded racial subtext. In much of the discourse, even when the intention is to be race-neutral, the implicated meanings are often times anti-Black and racist.

I’m sure there are more that I will write as time goes on.

If you have any pertinent questions, feel free to drop them in the comment section.